The Morning After: Xbox's mobile game store could arrive next year
Phil Spencer says the move depends on Activision acquisition approval.
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Microsoft could launch an Xbox store on iOS and Android as early as next year, according to a Financial Times interview with Phil Spencer. Microsoft first revealed it was working on an Xbox store for mobile devices in a document filed with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year. The head of the company’s gaming division said the plan depends on regulators approving Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. “The Digital Markets Act (DMA) that’s coming – those are the kinds of things that we are planning for,” he said. “I think it’s a huge opportunity.”
Under the DMA, major platforms the European Union designates as “gatekeepers” will be required to open their devices to competing app stores. Bloomberg reported last year that Apple was already preparing to make iOS compliant with this legislation ahead of its March 2024 deadline. Spencer also noted in the interview it would be “pretty trivial” for Microsoft to adapt its existing Xbox and Game Pass apps to sell games and subscriptions through mobile devices.
– Mat Smith
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